Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Reading Room JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Alien on Earth!"

...here's an earlier rendition of the oft-used concept, with one of the weirdest-looking Jack Kirby aliens I've ever seen (and that is saying something)!
Penciler Jack Kirby and inker Christopher Rule, who did the cover of the re-do, illustrated this tale from Atlas' Journey into Mystery #51 (1959).
As for who wrote it, the consensus on various sites, including the Grand Comics Database, is that it's the work of Kirby himself.
For those clever readers who noted both this story and the reworking in World of Fantasy were both published in 1959, this one came out six months earlier, and the "job number" for "Alien" (T-165) is earlier than the one on "Gargoyle" (T-345).
Usually, Stan Lee (either as editor or writer) made sure that such similar plots or reworkings were a couple of years apart.
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Monday, April 18, 2022

Monday Madness WORLD OF FANTASY "Gargoyle From the 5th Galaxy!"

Is this a kool cover, or what?
But, this sandals-wearing Jack Kirby-Christopher Rule scarlet alien isn't inside the comic!
Instead, we get a more humanoid, less "traditional" gargoyle-looking green alien!
To be fair, he does breathe fire, like the guy on the cover...
Plotted by Stan Lee, scripted by Larry Lieber and superbly-rendered by Don Heck, this tale from Atlas' World of Fantasy #19 (1959) was actually a re-do of an earlier story (illustrated by Jack Kirby, no less), which we'll present tomorrow!
BTW, though the story was reprinted in the 1970s, the cover has never seen the light of day since its' original publication!
Pity...
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Atlas-Era Marvel Masterworks
Tales of Suspense
Volume 4

Sunday, April 17, 2022

Holiday Reading Room LIFE OF CHRIST: EASTER STORY "Resurrection"

Under this Scott McDaniel cover...
...is one of the most unusual tales Marvel Comics ever told!
(And that's saying a lot!)
Written by Louise Simonson, pencilled by Mary Wilshire and Colleen Doran, and inked by Bill Anderson, this 1993 one-shot, co-published by Thomas Nelson Publishers is a companion volume to The Christmas Story by the same creative team, published earlier that year.
Easter Story tells the tale from Christ's entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to this final chapter, though we're running only the section taking place on Easter here.
If you'd like to buy a copy of the HTF comic, you can find it HERE.

Saturday, April 16, 2022

Space Hero Saturdays SPACEHAWK "and the Vulture Men From the Void"

You'll note our hero is no longer "The SpaceHawk", just "SpaceHawk"...

...which is still more than enough to scare the poop out of most space-going evil-doers!
As I've been going through other Novelty Publications titles, I discovered that they did occasional ads like this for "brother" books...
...using story panels pretty much in the format of a movie preview trailer using film clips!
Interesting, eh?
In the meantime, a different Space Hero will thrill you with an astounding astral adventure...
NEXT WEEK

Friday, April 15, 2022

Friday Holiday Fun EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Inside an Easter Egg"

Sometimes Walt (Pogo) Kelly did single page shorts...
...sometimes he combined several unrelated short pieces into a theme, like what you might see inside an Easter Egg!
...as this never-reprinted piece from Dell's Four Color Comics: Easter with Mother Goose #103 (1946) demonstrates!
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